Timing Types

Timing types control when items start in a sequence or rotation. Each item has a timing type that determines its relationship to surrounding items.

Overview

Type	Color	Behavior	Interrupts Previous
Normal	Gray	Starts after previous item ends	No
Hard Fixed	Red	Starts at exact time	Yes
Soft Fixed	Blue	Starts at target time, waits for previous	Conditional
Backtimed	Orange	Calculated backwards from next fixed item	No

When to Use Each Type

Type	Use Case
Normal	Continuous music programming with no time constraint
Hard Fixed	Legal requirements, news at the top of the hour, scheduled ad breaks
Soft Fixed	Targeted transitions that should align with a natural mix point
Backtimed	Jingles or beds that must end at :00, news lead-ins, top-of-hour timing

Normal

The default timing type. Items start when the previous item completes.

Behavior:

• Waits for the previous item to finish
• Respects cue points (Mix or Fade Out markers) on the previous item
• No time guarantee

Example:

Time	Item	Duration
00:00	Song A	3:30
03:30	Song B (Normal)	4:00
07:30	Song C (Normal)	3:15

Hard Fixed

Items start at an exact time, interrupting any currently playing content.

Behavior:

• Starts precisely at the configured time
• Cuts off the previous item if still playing
• Guarantees the scheduled start time

Use cases:

• News at the top of the hour
• Scheduled ad breaks
• Time-critical announcements

Configuration:

Parameter	Description
Fixed Time	Start time within the hour (MM:SS)

Soft Fixed

Items target a specific time but wait for the previous item to complete. A configurable time window limits how late the item can start.

Behavior:

• Aims to start at the configured time
• Waits for the previous item to finish
• If the time window expires, the previous item is interrupted

Configuration:

Parameter	Description
Fixed Time	Target start time (MM:SS)
Time Window	Maximum allowed delay (toggle + time value)

With Time Window

The window defines the maximum delay. When the window expires, the previous item is interrupted.

Without Time Window

When the time window toggle is disabled, the soft fixed constraint is relaxed. The item starts after the previous item finishes regardless of delay.

Backtimed

Items are calculated backwards to end when the next fixed-time item starts.

Behavior:

• Start time calculated from the next Hard Fixed or Soft Fixed item
• Multiple consecutive backtimed items form a chain, calculated backwards

Use cases:

• Jingles before news
• Music that must end at a specific time
• Filling gaps before fixed content

Timing and Cross-Fading

Timing types determine whether a transition can cross-fade or must cut.

Type	Transition Behavior
Normal	Cross-fades at the previous item's Mix or Fade Out cue point
Hard Fixed	Cuts the previous item at the exact start time, no cross-fade
Soft Fixed	Cross-fades when starting within the window; cuts if the window expires
Backtimed	Cross-fades into the following fixed item using its cue points

Hard Fixed timing guarantees the start time and overrides cross-fading. Soft Fixed preserves the cross-fade when the previous item finishes inside the time window.

Timing Modal

The timing modal appears when clicking the timing icon on a sequence entry or rotation item.

1. Select the timing type from the dropdown (with icon and description)
2. For fixed types: enter the target time
3. For Soft Fixed: toggle and configure the time window
4. Save changes

In the rotation view, timing changes are saved via API and the rotation data refreshes automatically. In the sequence editor, changes apply to the sequence template.

Timing Indicators

The rotation view highlights potential timing conflicts:

Indicator	Meaning
Will be interrupted	A Hard Fixed item will cut off this item
Will be skipped	Timing rules make this item impossible to play
Overplanned	Item extends past the hour boundary

Related Topics

• Sequences - Create templates with timing rules
• Rotations - View calculated start times
• Week Planner - Assign sequences to time blocks